Hydrostatic bearings have been in use for a very long time, and recent improvements in compensator design, such as discussed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,164,237, 5,281,032, and U.S. patent application (pending) Ser. No. 209,384 (High Speed Hydrostatic Spindle Design), providing means to allow water (or similar water-derived or related fluids herein generically referred to as `water`) to be used as a working fluid for the bearings.
The present invention allows designers to use standard design methods developed for self-compensating hydrostatic circuitry, while taking advantage of the latest design advancements, as disclosed in above mentioned patents and application, where the direction of the motion is primarily in one direction for spindles, for example, but with bi-directional motion also accommodated as is the case of linear motion bearings.